


Limping Along

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 13:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13928070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: It was going to be a case of the lame leading the lame in the Gold house for a while.





	Limping Along

Gold leaned heavily on the kitchen counter as he waited for the kettle to boil. He was bone weary, but he found himself laughing softly. Today had been one of those days, the sort that if he’d seen it on a television show he would have scoffed at the sheer ridiculous improbability of it all. Life always proved to be stranger than fiction, and he’d been reminded of that first hand today.

He cracked the lid of the tea caddy and paused, an ear cocked towards the lounge. The only sound was that of gentle snores. He fished a teabag out and shook the dust from it before dropping it into his waiting cup.

Neal had gone to the playpark with the Nolans today. All that specially designed play equipment with the squidgy tarmac underneath in case of tumbles and his son had decided to climb a tree. David had spotted what he was up to right away, and had stood beneath the tree to keep an eye on him. The poor man had been brilliant, encouraging Neal while steering him away from over-reaching his ability. He couldn’t have known the branch Neal reached for was rotten. It was hard to believe that the ashen-faced man who met him at the hospital was the same one who had sounded so together and calm when he had phoned to tell him about the accident.

Poor David, he’d been a wreck, apologising none stop while Gold limped along the hospital corridor to his son’s room.

“MM is with him. Whale says it’s a clean break, which is better apparently. I’m so sorry Gold, it happened so fast…”

Gold had wondered if he was going to have to slap him to bring him back to his senses. As he’d reassured David that it was an accident and he’d done everything right he’d been able to hear Neal telling Emma terrible jokes, so he’d known his son was fine before he’d even laid eyes on him.

He’d been further reassured when he stepped into the room and was greeted by a wide smile and Neal shouting; “Look Pops! I got a white cast. They offered me a coloured one, but I want everyone to sign it! Emma’s gonna go first! Have you got a Sharpie?”

Apparently, painkillers made Neal a little hyper.

“Just like his Pops.”

Gold poured the boiling water into his cup and watched it turn a rich brown. Neal had been over the moon when Nurse Chapel had shown him the crutches he’d need to get around for the next six weeks.

“Just like you Pops but squared.”

Gold had always privately considered his cane as a sign of weakness, something that made him older than his years, but Neal had been borrowing it to play dress up since he was a toddler. To see his son so proud to need support to walk like him, even for a thankfully short time, brought a lump to his throat.

They would have been ready to leave the hospital at that point if it hadn’t been for the commotion in the corridor.

Gold limped to the fridge for the milk and huffed at the ridiculous events that had led to the second accident of the day.

Belle’s Saturday had been booked up with a meeting with the Mayor and some developers who wanted to invest in the library. The Mayor had given clear instructions that they weren’t to be disturbed, so Belle’s cell was off and even though MM had called the Mayor’s secretary stressing the importance of the emergency Belle hadn’t got the massage about Neal’s fall until the meeting was over. To her credit, once Ashley had passed on the message, Regina had driven Belle to the hospital herself, at a speed that if she was anyone but the Mayor would have gotten her pulled over.

Gold shuddered as he dunked the teabag in the now milky tea. The sound of Belle’s yell would haunt his nightmares. She’d been racing toward Neal’s room when Walter had pushed his janitor’s cart out from the corridor junction. There had been a crash, but instead of being sent sprawling Belle’s heel had caught in the wheel of the cart.

He was doing his best not to imagine the torsion that Belle’s ankle had undergone in that split second. Whale had been amazed that the x-ray revealed no spiral fracture. Belle had a snapped shoe heel and a nasty sprain, and much to Neal’s delight a crutch.

Gold took his tea into the lounge and smiled softly at his beloved family as the slept soundly. Dove had been in the pawnshop when David had called. Knowing that it would be difficult for Neal to get up the step stairs of their pink home while injured, he’d worked one of his trademark wonders and found an insanely bright fold-out bed for Neal, complete with an avalanche of pillows adorned with the stars of the Marvel Universe. The second he’d heard about Belle’s injury he’d single handedly moved Belle’s comfy reclining armchair from the library upstairs and added one of his own hand knit blankets for her comfort. Gold’s near silent giant of a right-hand man had been waiting for them at the entrance of the hospital with his own minivan, which was a godsend when trying to transport three people with dodgy legs.

Gold smothered a laugh as he glanced at the corner of the lounge. He put his cup down on the side table by his chair and pulled his cell from his pocket. His tongue might have stuck from the corner of his mouth as he remembered the lessons Neal had given him for the camera function, but he managed to snap the photo he wanted. He had to sit down and frown at the screen as he worked out how to send the photo.

Dove, shifted little Tom to his other hip when his text message sounded. Alana shooed Sally and Clare towards the bathroom and cocked an eye towards her husband.

“Does Gold need you?”

Dove shook his head.

“He has sent me a photo. Look.”

She took the phone from his hand and laughed at the image of three crutches and a cane tangled in a corner with the caption; “Only in a crooked house.”

**Author's Note:**

> Anon prompted - Bae and Belle hurts each one a leg to different circumstances so all the family uses a cane or crutch.


End file.
